Thursday, November 18, 2010

Facebook - The Social Media That Blunders....

Pre-Facebook Era
Friendster. I still remember those time when I had (and still have) a friendster account. I was happily adding my friends from uni, and school or even my msn friends whom I would like to add. I really enjoyed the wonders of Friendster. All the pictures I uploaded, it is meant solely for me and my friends to view. Pictures posted are meant for private where we can only upload a few. And then it evolved where you can start to create photo albums. Games was then introduced. But it was only those simple games. The best part of Friendster that I like most is that, it will not allow you to tag your friends. This is where privacy is really taken cared off. Pictures that you do not want to show others will not be seen either. Non friends will not even able to trace you using friendster. And yes, although it is widely available in the world wide web, to a certain extend, your privacy is there. And yes... Adverts were pretty mellow and almost nil.

Facebook... Where it all begun.
Initially, when facebook was first made known to me, I find that the creator is awesome. This is a page where it really connects you to your friends especially with those that may have lost contact with you for years! I still remembered the days when I practically spent my time searching for friends that I once knew and added them as my friends and that had a lot of catching up to do. They even allow us to upload many of our picture albums which is unlimited. And post our thoughts of mind in our shout out! Or even videos for that matter. Facebook is a page where the shoutout of your friends will also appear in your wall. It really hook you up and keep you updated with your friends and family's well being.

Where the security and unhealthy aura began..
Then.... more and more people that I know and couldn't think about started to have facebook too. I still remembered my cousin telling me not to introduce any family members to him cause his private life would be exposed! and there will be real juicy gossip! LOL! One thing about facebook is that it allows you to have privacy control. This is where I spent my time segmenting my friends into groups and allowing these groups on what they can see and what they can't see. Even my profile picture, and profile, if I do not want it to be searchable, it can't be identified at all. Then suddenly, facebook had this massive restructuring where privacy setting got complicated and your private life is getting to exposed. At any moment when you google your name in google search, you will find your name everywhere!!! The worst of all is that people and company started to use facebook as their marketing tool. This is what they call social marketing and there they go accessing our profiles and information. Damn! I just want a site to go to for leisure and stay away from these advertisements or intrusions!

These company and individuals then started to have fan page, and groups of their own. Initially I was pretty engrossed where to me, it will help me group my friends up and have a reunion. However, companies start to come in to build their fan base, business starters started to create their profile, individuals started building their fan page as if they are celebrities and asked us to be their fans. I do join some of this page if only it is my friends who invited me. But over time, situation started to get worse. My mailbox is always spammed and jammed up with their messages to us on whatever updates. Situation got worst when it is persistent and repeated. My walls, are always posted with the marketing and promotion of these people! Hence, I deleted them all. First level of annoyance!

As for ethics, there are also people who post their own admiration on themselves all the time... They just can't help it but self praise. I used to have days where I see people posting "I am so proud of myself because I am always the best. I think I'm the most good looking, check out my pictures. I think my cake is the best. I'm going to meet up with the prime minister and charm him with my charm. etc"... aren't these called self praising? Even if they were to argue, they bring it up to facebook! Can't they do it behind closed doors? Second level of annoyance!

There are also people who post picture of you without telling you. And when you took their picture with you inside and post it on your album, they will be asking you why didn't you even have the courtesy to ask their permission. In the first place, did they even ask my permission to post my picture? Annoying!

Sigh.. I do wish to delete my own facebook account, however, I have to keep a look out on what others post about me or my family that may be damaging or threatening. I had friends who got owned in facebook that it almost destroyed his career and marriage due to these sabotages. So at the end of the day, facebook is not that fun after all. You will have to be totally careful of the world in the web. If I have a choice, I would delete my account! Kinda fed up with all these unethical behavior.

This is the 10 Possible Social Media Etiquette Blunders that I would love people to think about.

a. Take it easy on the application invites. Your friends may not want to be your neighbor on FarmVille nor do they desire to join you on a hit in Cuba on Mob Wars.

b. Use discretion when wall posting. Do not post anything too personal on a person's wall. Remember, walls are public spaces, so treat them as such.

c. Not everything that pops into your mind needs to be shared on Facebook. Post status updates on things that others might legitimately care to know about your life. And of course don't post things that will get you in trouble with your friends, your boss, or your family.

d. Use appropriate language when writing on someone else's wall. Avoid off-color comments and gossip. And check for spelling mistakes. Just think, "What kind of impression do I want to give others?"

e. Don't "friend" someone you don't know or hardly know. It’s not a competition on who has the most friends. Someone you get to know from a club, is just an acquaintance. Not yet a friend. Remember that people you are friends with on social networking sites have access to more of your personal content than the rest of the online world.

f. Do not post pictures of your friends without letting them know or remove them if they do not approve it. Ever visit your Facebook page and discover that someone’s posted a photo of you from last weekend’s party — a photo you didn’t authorize and haven’t even seen?

g. Avoid offering up too much information about your personal life and recreational activities. As much as it makes you feel proud of what you are doing, but you may also put yourself in real danger.

h. Don’t self-promote. We’ve probably all posted at least once about some achievement. But you may not want to sound like a bragger or a self-centered careerist.

i. Don't grumble about your workplace: While this is the favourite pastime of many, it is best conducted offline. Don't forget that your boss and colleagues are also on your friends list and they can all read the nasty things you have to say.

j. Don't post confidential content: Social networking websites should not be mistaken for WikiLeaks. If the information is not meant for a larger audience, don't post it online. The things that you post there can be traced back to you.

Remember, people do check you out on facebook if they want to know you better! Be it for work, be it for personal, be it for positive act, be it for negative act! So.... BEWARE! People can sabotage you or even take advantage of you.